CASSOPOLIS -- The Cass County Road Commission was scrambling this week to pull together a final budget for the 2009 fiscal year after the resignation of its recently hired certified public accountant. Officials at the road commissioners' meeting this week said Becky Moore, a CPA from Dowagiac who also maintains the county's financial records, resigned because of what commissioners said were too many constraints on her time. Road Commissioner Louis Csokasy, who recommended Moore's hiring after the retirement in May of the road commission's longtime financial director, Lois Jacobson, said Moore sent a letter to the commission on short notice. She indicated, he said, that her workload was overwhelming in view of the client responsibilities that she already had, and she couldn't do justice to the job. Reportedly, however, there were difficulties in the working relationship between Moore and the road commission's engineer-manager, Joe Bellina. When asked about her resignation, Moore said, "This is not a client that I want to work with." "The nice thing about owning your own business is that you get to pick and choose your clients," she added. Moore worked for the commission without a signed contract and on a part-time basis. Her departure means that Bellina, who acknowledges he is without CPA credentials, will have to finish the budget, which commissioners originally were expected to receive this past week. A new public hearing date has been set for 10 a.m. Sept. 18 at the road commission headquarters. The commissioners were set to meet at 7 p.m. on that day as part of their summer schedule, but will meet in regular session at 9 a.m. instead. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. They now will receive the budget from Bellina at a special meeting at 9 a.m. on Sept. 15. Although the road commission has discussed drastic changes to operations because of decreasing funds and rising costs, the commission is now faced with finding a CPA -- preferably within a 50-mile radius -- to work with what has been referred to as complicated books, a task they said they don't believe will be easy. Commissioners Bob Powers and Csokasy discussed the matter briefly during a break in this week's commissioners meeting. Csokasy said he wants a CPA who can do the job. Powers advocates searching for someone who has worked with other road commissions in Michigan because of the accounting requirements under Michigan law that Csokasy acknowledges are "a little convoluted." Mandates under the law require the road commission to use special software, in use throughout the state, to create a budget that commissioners say is difficult to understand. Powers told Csokasy that perhaps they could find a CPA who is retired from a road commission. "You may have to go to somewhere like Kalamazoo County," Powers said. "It probably would cost a little more, but it would be worth it." The responsibilities are even more daunting, considering that the road commissioners have yet to complete a final plan for cutting expenditures. A proposal has been floated by Bellina that calls for several layoffs of union members through the spring of 2009, reduction of a professional staff member, the potential closing of commission garages in outlying areas of the county, and the potential sale of existing road commission property, including 40 acres at Dr. T.K. Lawless Park. But there is no firm plan. Csokasy said he wants a $750,000 cash reserve put in place at a time when expenses are climbing and revenues are limited because of decreased income from gasoline and diesel fuel taxes, and less contracted work with townships and other municipalities. Commissioner LeRoy Krempec recently discussed the idea of closing, at least for one year, road commission garages in outlying parts of the county to save money. This week, he was second-guessing that idea. "Sometimes you get into certain things and you don't understand them until you get educated," said Krempec, who now is uncertain whether such severe action should be undertaken. That is because certain equipment is assigned to each garage for outlying areas. "In winter, the stationary (work) force (at headquarters) takes everything north outside of the radius of the hub. The rest comes out of the headquarters." Krempec and Powers are trying to determine the best solution, and Powers is putting together a financial analysis, including fuel costs and manpower hours. "We are trying to make sure that as little productivity time as possible (is used) to make the budget work," Krempec said. Powers provided several examples of the "inefficiency of our tractors and graders and trucks." For example, he said, graders use 2.6 gallons of fuel an hour in the summer and 3.4 gallons an hour in the winter. If those graders are used six hours a day, it costs $62 to run them in the summer months and $81.60 in the winter. Trucks, he said, use 5.8 gallons per hour in the summer and 3.9 gallons per hour in the winter. The cost for truck usage is $120 a day in the summer and $80 per day in the winter. The overall costs are $197,000 a year during the summer months and $184,000 a year in the winter months. "That is an awful lot of money," he said.